Freelance Drawer & Illustrator

You owned a bead shop?Why, yes. Let me explain. I first made a beaded bracelet when I was 10 years old and attached it to my hand-made "Cabbage Patch" doll in 1986 (The bracelet is still on the doll). Mom and dad were always fixing things and taught me how to use hand tools at a young age. Dad taught the family how to put together circuit boards and solder in the components. (He owns an electronic store in NJ) After a family dinner, we would assemble circuit boards. (I thought every family did this.) I continued to repair and make beaded jewelry through high school, selling some items at the Jersey Shore and repairing antique jewelry for a local antique store. I went to college thinking I would major in advertising or graphic design, (pleasing all of the "You are going to college to make jewelry?" skeptics) but I kept taking jewelry electives. I changed my major to silversmithing and graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1998 with a BFA in Crafts and minor in Art Education. I never saw my life any other way and love making jewelry. I also love to repair customers jewelry because their jewelry is always so rich in history, memory, and emotion.I opened Silver Wings Studio in 2002 and closed it in 2011. It was a great time!